Gore, Kemp Hit Campaign Trail After Debate

clinton and gore ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AllPolitics, Oct. 10) -- Widely praised for their high-minded debate Wednesday night, Vice President Al Gore and Republican challenger Jack Kemp joined their bosses today back on the campaign trail.

Gore was hooking up with President Bill Clinton in Knoxville, Tenn., for a rally at which the president planned to announce a new Internet initiative.

"He was great," Clinton said of Gore's performance against Kemp. According to press secretary Mike McCurry, after the debate, the president telephoned Gore, and said, "I'm really proud of you. You did a great job. You started out strong and just kept getting better. And I know how long 90 minutes can be."

A flash CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll of 408 viewers conducted in the half hour following the debate showed Gore as the clear winner, 57-28 percent. Other polls showed similar results.

Today, Kemp was headed to Cincinnati to campaign with Dole and retired General Colin Powell. Dole, who watched the debate from Chicago, said he was "very proud" of Kemp, calling him the clear winner. Dole praised Kemp's closing statement, which highlighted the success of American democratic capitalism over other political systems.

The Kansan also continued to dangle the prospect of Powell joining a Dole administration, telling reporters "Colin Powell is going to be one of the stars of our new administration."

Powell on Wednesday apologized to the Organization of Chinese Americans and the Japanese American Citizens League, saying his use of "Chinamen" in a recent speech was inappropriate and that he would never use it again.

"If you give 1.3 billion Chinamen access to home shopping on television, (communism) is over, because there is no way communism can compete with a Salad Shooter for $9.95," Powell told a business group.

Gore, Kemp Hit Campaign Trail After Debate

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